In Japan, for about $15.00 you can spend an hour having unlimited tea, coffee, and soft drinks while cozying up to wildlife of your choice. There are puppy cafes, cat cafes, pig cafes, capybara cafes….the choices are limitless. After passing dozens of these anima cafes, the number one son and I decided we needed to see what it was all about. We opted for a multi-pet cafe.

I went in skeptical. This can’t be good for the pets. Can it? Being handled by endless people, day after day can’t be anything but stressful. And yet….Honestly, I loved it.

The animals snoozed. They ran in circles. They approached the people (who were limited by entry times). They ignored everyone in off limits areas where they could go if they didn’t want to be handled. The workers treated the animals like children and they responded with playful abandon.

And so reluctantly, I began to appreciate the experience. When else will I pet a relaxed fennec fox or feed a bathing capybara? Donning gloves, I fell in love with a hedgehog who only wanted to cuddle in my outstretched hands.

The meerkats wanted to burrow in blankets or the keepers overalls. The ferrets ran around an indoor obstacle course. Overwhelmed, I sat down and let the workers decide which animals needed my attention.

I am amused when Number one son let his meerkat escape his lap and make a made dash toward the ferrets. Alas, he was apprehended before he could crash the ferret’s party. But he was unpaused in his enthusiasm.

Between cups of hot tea, we played and laughed like children. It is good to connect with living creatures. It is good to remember that stewardship matters. It is good to laugh out of pure joy in the moment. I still understand all the ways that an animal cafe can go wrong…but on this day, every thing seemed exactly right.